Views towards Prostitution in Ancient Rome
Sunday, 15 November 2020, 7:56 PM
by Teri Hamilton
Views towards Prostitution in Ancient Rome

For General Audiences

Prostitution is among the oldest known professions which have been undertaken, while being a primarily female profession, there has been sources documenting male prostitutes throughout the Ancient world. Excavations conducted in the ruins of Pompeii have revealed an insight into the extent of the sex work and trade which took place in the Ancient world. The 79.AD. volcanic eruption entombed the city and prevented it from evolving and changing, as other Ancient cities did, therefore allowing for historians to have a clearer view of the setup and how an Ancient Roman town worked. Prostitution was common in Rome, with there being different reasons which would drive a person to the sex trade.

 

A woman’s ability to provide sex and met the ‘needs’ of a man meant that prostitution was a steady profession in the Ancient world. Roman norms of society did not accept adultery between Roman citizens; a man could engage in sexual activity with a prostitute, or one of his own slaves, and the actions would not constitute as adultery. Adultery, by Ancient Roman standards was to for a married citizen to engage in sexual relations with a married or unmarried Roman citizen; prostitutes and sex workers did not extend to this norm. The act of adultery was considered worse than prostitution by the Roman’s because of the risks to the legitimacy any heirs and their inheritance. Prostitution, in Ancient Rome, was a tool for men to satisfy their sexual needs, without breaking any laws or risking family bloodlines in doing so, ensuring the consistent need for prostitutes.

 

Prostitution was, as it is in the modern era, used as a business. Many of those engaging in prostitution were often slaves who were ‘pimped’ by their masters; evidence of this has been discovered in Pompeii. Excavations uncovered small chambers which were decorated with erotic imagery and scenes, these chambers held only a single stone bed (which would have been covered with blankets and pillows). Many of these chambers were discovered across Pompeii; some were found in residential areas of the city with entrances leading onto the streets, prompting ideas that slave owners would conduct their prostitution businesses from the private areas of their homes. Slaves who were used for prostitution were seen primarily as a form of income, with little care being made for their well being, except in instances which would have caused damage to the owner’s property.

By the middle of the first century AD, there was a taxation put onto prostitution, which could be evaded by claiming to no longer partaking in prostitution. Street prostitutes who worked independently were more difficult to tax because they were able to remain unregistered; those who were affiliated with a brothel (either private or municipal) was able to be regulated under the taxation more, which exposed then to the exploitation and extortion of the tax collectors.

In the higher classes of Roman society, there was excess in many things, including sex. There have been sources and evidence to show that the presence of ‘high-class’ prostitutes was significant in Ancient Rome, with Emperor Caligula being said to have set up a whorehouse in his palace. Caligula (remembered among the worst of Roman Emperors) would send heralds to market places and invite men to his palace, for the purpose of using the whorehouse which he had filled with married, free-born women (Imperial women rarely took part) with Caligula earning an income through this. Prostitution was viewed as business and form of income in Ancient Rome, by both the common people, as well as the higher classes.

 

Prostitutes frequenting the streets was not an uncommon sight in Rome. The sex trade was normalised in Ancient Roman culture, something which can be seen through the evidence of a steady sex trade in Pompeii. It was viewed a business, as well as a legal outlet for the male sexual needs. The taxation of prostitutes by the legal system in Rome further shows the idea of the sex trade being financially lucrative, as it was only introduced into Roman life in mid first-century AD, after the Athenians had introduced a similar taxation. Prostitution was a profession which was undertaken both freely and by force. Free-born Roman women faced with poverty would turn to prostitution for an income, where as the slaves forced into it had no choice in the acts, their profession was controlled by their owner; both could lead to exploitation and harm.

 

References

Knapp. R. and Robert. C. “Invisible Romans Prostitutes, Outlaws, Slaves, Gladiators, Ordinary Men and Women ... the Romans That History Forgot.” London: Profile, 2011. pg.7. Web.
Sex in the Ancient World: Prostitution in Pompeii. August 3rd 2009. Kurt Sayenga. New York. A&E Television Networks.